


Broken glass

by InkPuddle



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Finally, Other, i don't know what Im doing with my life, there's a therapist?, these poor children deserve it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkPuddle/pseuds/InkPuddle
Summary: Evan, a young psychologist, receives a strange offer from the headmaster of an orphanage he knows nothing about. The fact that he can’t find any information on it either doesn’t help. Slowly but surely, he will have to earn the trust of these children, which is a more difficult task than one might expect.





	1. Call

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is the first time I put something I wrote out there and I hope you like it! I'm aware that the first chapter is going to be slow, but I intend on making this better. Yes, there will be a few OCs, since I'm pretty sure this orphanage had more than just 6 children, but I hope you like it! I'll try my best to upload once a week or so~. This might also be a bit of a warm up for a bigger fanfic I'm planning but that's just a plan for now.  
> Enjoy~~

Being a young psychologist in London could have its ups and downs. Some people were more open to him and could even see him as a friend sometimes. While others would frown at his age, thinking that he wasn't experienced enough to understand or help them deal with their problems. So each patient was a hit or miss. 

It was a rather rainy day, even for London. The young man sat on the chair in his office, hoping that someone would walk through the door, despite not having an appointment. Working solo, he was used to sitting there withought nothing to do for hours on end. Yes, he could work with other companies, but he didn't like their way of treating their patients. Most companies wouldn't work as much on getting someone to feel better. They would work to get the most money they could out of their patients. Yes, that was smart, but it wasn't right. He was trying to do the right thing.

And that was where he ended up- alone, withought any clients for hours on end. 

The brunet thought about what he would do when he got home. He would get a call from his brother, who had been nagging him about working on something else for months now. His thoughts quickly changed to what he would say to the constant nagging, how his brother would react and how everything would actually go down, leaving them both emotionally exhausted. That wasn't something he wanted to think about. 

His train of thought was interrupted by a call. Something that finally broke the silence of the small office. The young Evan Barlore stared at it in disbelief, as if it were some kind of miracle. When he finally decided to answer it, he proceeded to have the strangest conversation he had had in a while.  
The voice on the other end appeared to be an older man, perhaps in his 50s. He sounded extremely tired, to the point where Evan had started to ask himself if the man had gotten any sleep in the past week... month… years. 

The way the conversation went wasn’t normal either and, by the end of it, Evan was left with more questions than answers. And a job offer. A rather big and strange offer. Working at an orphanage. The idea itself made sense. The children at an orphanage had one too many problems and it was a good idea to get them help to get though things withought a parental figure.

It was the other part of the conversation that made him feel like there was something off about it. To start, the man at the other end of the call. Not only did he sound tired, but he seemed to be burned out from whatever work he had at that orphanage. It was probable that he was the headmaster himself. Yes, that would make sense. 

Again, Evan’s train of thought was interrupted. This time it was by a knock on the door. It was an old patient. The therapist greeted her warmly as she noted the new bookshelf he had gotten not too long ago. 

Hours went by. The rain hadn’t stopped when Evan stepped out of the building his office was in, nor by the time the bus stopped a block away from his house. When he finally walked into the apartment, his body cold and wet, he was finally greeted by a small puppy. 

“I missed you too, Oz” he chuckled, taking off his coat as the puppy run in circles around him. “Do you want attention? Hm?” the young man asked with a chuckle, petting the dog while he tried to take his soaking wet shoes off. His hands were red and incredibly cold too. One would have thought that, after living all his life in the city, he would be used to it, but he really wasn’t. 

After turning the heater on, he looked around, noticing that Oz was still following him. Evan couldn’t help but to smile at that. Definitely, the puppy had made his life a little less lonely. He walked slowly towards the living room, if one could even call it that. The room was only slightly bigger than his bedroom, but it was more than enough. He had his books, a small sofa and a TV that he rarely turned on. That was pretty much all he needed. 

Evan sat down on one of the chairs, waiting for the house to warm up enough for him to take a shower. As always, the puppy followed him. He spent a few minutes playing with him, giving the animal the attention he needed and hadn’t gotten thought the day. 

Finally, his phone rang. There it was again. His brother and his nagging. Evan let out a sigh, picking it up.

“Will?” he asked, trying to sound more excited than usual.

“Evan! You picked up on the first call, good job” the older laughed “How was your day? Did you find any clients?” 

“Not really, no” the young man rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming after that “No, spare the monologue. I appreciate you worrying about me, but I don’t need any business to give me a job. I’m fine on my own, things take a while to get rolling-“

“It’s been three years though” William noted “I mean… do whatever you want, but you can barely pay rent, right? Why did you get that dog again?”

“I can pay for it. Really, don’t worry. Oz is less expensive than you might think.” The younger tried to defend himself.

“Well, I’m just saying that maybe you’d get more if you hung around other people instead of isolating yourself- are you sure you’re a therapist?”

“I have friends. Will, I don’t want to talk right now, okay? Today was a draining day and I have a few things to think about—“

“Oh? What is it? Are you sure everything is okay?” the other’s voice sounded worried. Despite the nagging, William would often worry about his younger brother. It was obvious he wanted to stay in touch despite their very different lifestyles and Evan had to thank him for it.

“Yes, I just have a few things on my mind” Evan explained “It’s nothing serious, my mind’s still on a patient.”

And so, the conversation went on. They talked for a short while about their lives. William was trying to get promoted to move to a bigger house and share it with his girlfriend. In most of the calls, Will would usually do the talking and Evan listened. Perhaps that was why he was a therapist but- that was also a flaw. Especially in his job, when he wanted to get a conversation to one point but it wouldn’t end up there. He would usually let the patient finish talking, though. Surely, if they were talking about something, it was because it was important for them.

Finally, the call ended. Evan sat there, on his chair, for a moment more before heading towards the small bathroom. He looked at himself in the slightly cracked mirror, noticing the tiredness on his face. Really, he hadn’t gotten that much work, but there was something about that call…

Of course, he hadn’t mentioned it to William. He still had to think about it and- why hadn’t the man told him the name of the orphanage? If it weren’t by the other man’s voice, he would have thought that it was just a prank. Perhaps it was a new place or it was the first time they called to find new therapists for the kids. They clearly cared for the children if they had starting calling. They were probably on a budget too, since they didn’t call someone from a big company- maybe it was an accident. 

The thoughts didn’t disappear when it was finally time for him to get something to eat. He took whatever he could find in the fridge –some meat and potatoes- and started warming them up in the microwave. 

If it was a real offer, what was he supposed to do? Take it? It could be a good option, but he didn’t know where that orphanage was. He didn’t know how it worked or what kind of work he’d had to do. Although, when the man and he spoke, the payment seemed way better than the one he was getting on his own.

It was too late to keep thinking about it. Leaving that though for another day, he lay on his bed. He didn’t have an appointment until 1 PM the next day, so he could take the morning to himself. Although the young man knew that he was going to spend the morning in the office anyway. After all, someone could still walk in…  
He didn’t even notice he had fallen asleep when he finally woke up, Oz jumping around him. Evan sat up, petting the dog softly as he took his phone. It was rather early, but he didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. After having a quick breakfast and walking Oz, he rushed out of the apartment, as if he had something to do. 

The very second he opened the door to the office, the phone rang. Again, that strange man was on the other end, asking him if he needed more time to think about the deal.

“No.” Evan replied “I’m taking the offer.”


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there will be more dialogue next time. I was working on a few other things all week and kinda had to do this in a shorter ammount of time, but I'll keep uploading! I hope you like this new chapter~

The rules were simple. 

He couldn’t ask for the children’s real names. He couldn’t tell anyone about where he was working. He, of course, couldn’t disclose any of the information given to him by any of the children. Finally, he couldn’t get attached to any of the subjects.

The rules were simple, yes, but they weren’t normal. Especially that last one. They were just children- why were they called subjects? Either way, he kept repeating the same set of rules that were given to him a few days ago. 

The job was at the very least strange. Yes, it was at an orphanage, where he would have to live due to the distance. But the fact that it was so secretive… At the very least he knew who had created it, and it somehow made him feel better. Quillsh Wammy. Evan was sure he had heard that name at least once. It didn’t take him long to discover why that was. An extraordinary inventor. That was one of the few ways people described him. In a way, it made Evan feel happy that someone with so much money had actually spent it on an orphanage, instead of just buying things for themselves.

Just the fact that they had called him made him really see that they saw the children as human beings- that was, until he read that last rule. Maybe he was just overthinking it, though. He already knew why the children had rather strange names- or at least he thought he understood correctly. 

As the car moved alongside a rather vast forest, the psychologist seemed to spot something beyond the trees. He was sure that is was a building and, to some point, it made sense that such a secretive place would be hidden.

The brunet looked for his phone in his pockets out of instinct, letting out a sigh when he remembered that he had to hand it to the driver. He wasn’t sure if he was going to get it back, but it somehow didn’t really bother him. If anything, the young man knew that sometimes disconnecting was the best thing. William wouldn’t really suspect anything, since he explained that he got a job and that he would have his phone off for a while. That seemed to make his older brother happy and he surprisingly went along with that request. 

Finally, the car stopped. They had driven into the forest, but in all honesty, the gates weren’t exactly hidden. Maybe that was the point. The more one tried to hide something, the stranger it seemed.

After getting a bit of a tour from the headmaster- the same 53 year old that had called him earlier that week and who went by the name of Roger Ruvie- he was finally shown his own dorm. There, he started to unpack his things.

The orphanage itself consisted of three buildings. 

The main one was the furthest from the gate. It was composed of three floors and seemed to be the children’s school and house at the same time. On the first floor was the kitchen, the living room and a few classrooms. Most of the rooms seemed to be on the second floor, while the library headmaster’s office and most of the classrooms (along with the art and music room) were on the last floor of the building.

The second, smaller building was close to the main one. It consisted of rooms for most of the staff. Evan was informed that that was the building he would be staying in. There wasn’t much of note in the building. It had its own library too, along with a few other rooms to spend some time if they even had the opportunity of getting bored.

The third and last building was the closest to the gate, and the first one Evan saw when walking through the grounds, was a church. It seemed to borrow a few elements from all kinds of churches, making it somehow work. A rosette glass welcomed anyone who wanted to enter. On the inside, it was fairly basic, although the light shining though the few stained glass windows made it feel more alive.

Once the tour around the grounds had ended, Evan had time to unpack his things. He didn’t have any work that day, but Roger had mentioned that he would have something to do the next day. 

All in all, the orphanage seemed to be a nice place. The children were in class when he was shown around, so he didn’t know how many people he would have to help. He wasn’t given much information either, other than his free days were Saturday and Monday and that he was allowed to leave those days after he spent a month in the orphanage. Apparently, they seemed to have a rather fragile case at hand at the moment, and they really needed his help. 

Evan was rather excited to work there. Not only was he finally given a chance to work on his field (since he had studied children’s and teen’s psychology) but the few people he had met seemed to be rather nice. Despite them not permitting any pets at first, they let the young psychologist stay with the puppy he had now grown to love. 

Once he was done with unpacking his things, Evan sat down on his new bed. From the window beside him he could see a small portion of the ground around the main building, and a big chunk of the forest. Everything was quiet. Everyone was doing their job. Everything was in order. Something about that made him feel calm. Sure, not everything made much sense just yet, but he was sure that that would come with time.

After spending a few minutes playing with Oz, who was as excited and nervous as his owner about the new place, the brunet took the documents Roger had given him to examine them. His first patient.

And immediately, from the very first line, everything was off again. 

The name of the person-if one could even call it that- was A. Yes, he was told that the children would have aliases but that was a bit too much. It was just a small detail that made him feel stuck between questioning it and letting out a chuckle. Finally, Evan decided to go with the latter. 

A seemed to have exceptionally good grades. To a rather unsettling point, in a way. Everything was perfect. Everything was neatly organized- even the few notes written about her. Most of those notes consisted of explaining that she had always been a rather optimistic and hardworking girl until a few months ago, when she went quieter and quieter until… a recent suicide attempt. 

His blood run cold when he read those last words, immediately understanding why he had been called with such urgency. Surely, she had had time to come back from the hospital and the attempt didn’t seem to leave any serious physical damage. That was a rather difficult case to start with, really. He had helped older people with those problems but- a teenager’s brain was much different. 

Evan let out a sigh, leaving the documents besides him on the bed, as he leaned against the wall. He definitely needed to look back into what he could do in these cases. What was the cause of it all? Was there something in the past that triggered this? Surely, growing up withought parents wasn’t easy but he wasn’t given much information about that either. Had she always been an orphan or did she lose her parents at a later age?

The questions went on and on until a knock on his door made the brunet snap out of it. Evan hurried towards the door, only to find a man around his age on the other side. He had short blond hair and was rather skinny. Evan couldn’t say that he had really noticed him when he got there. Perhaps he was one of the teachers?  
“Dinner time” the other said simply, clearly trying to be welcoming to the new guy. 

Evan smiled and nodded after he finished processing his thoughts. He took his coat and followed the blond man, who had been waiting for him, to the other building.

“Well, you’re the psychologist right?” the blond asked “I’m Fred, by the way.”

“Evan” he replied before nodding “I am. This place is rather…”

“Strange?” Fred interrupted “Yeah, I know. But you kinda get used to it, you know? There are a few rules and stuff that you’ll learn later about but- overall, it’s a good place to work at if you’re not one of the teachers.”

Evan laughed slightly “They’re not that bad, are they? I think that as long as one gives them space and respect teenagers aren’t as scary as some make them out to be.”

Fred only laughed in reply. The brunet didn’t know if he should understand that as an agreement or as some kind of warning.

The dining room itself was divided between staff and teens too, although a few of the teachers seemed to stay behind to take care of the youngest kids. There weren’t too many children- maybe 100 or less, and most of them had their small groups to sit with. 

The psychologist noticed how some of them looked at him. Some surprised, one or two called the attention of their peers and others either ignored or just stared like him withought much of a care in the world. 

“Evan Barlore” he heard someone comment. Truth be told, he was rather creeped out by it and the brunet couldn’t help but to look around. After a moment, he walked forward in defeat, not finding the owner of the voice. Rumors must have spread. Keeping secrets in such a small place isn’t easy he thought to himself as he walked towards the other side of the dining room.

As he walked, he noted a few people. A blond kid was the only one sitting by himself, looking down at his food as he ate in silence. A short ginger who was more interested in her friend’s sketchbook than in anything surrounding them. A small table of five that were making some kind of bet as they glanced at the psychologist every now and then. And, finally, a kid who only wore white. His clothes matched his hair and he didn’t seem to notice or care about the newcomer. He was surrounded by a few people, who kept whispering things. Honestly, it didn’t look like he was having the best time of his life.

As he finally sat down on his table, Evan wondered how many of those children he’d see again in his office.


End file.
